Haunted No Longer
by NevermoreCalls
Summary: Slade is gone and Robin is safe; however, Robin doesn't know about their bond. Raven decides to visit him to not only tell him about it, but to also talk to him about what she saw from his past. Everyone has their demons. Takes place right after "Haunted." Slight Raven/Robin.


Raven left the medical bay after Cyborg said everyone should get some sleep. She didn't fail to notice that he didn't move from the screen to investigate the signal he found on Slade's mask.

The idea that Slade could still be out there… it sent chills down her spine.

It didn't make any sense though as everyone _saw_ him fall into the lava. There was no way he could've survived that. Slade might have been stronger than the average human but he was still human. At least, that's what they believed. Maybe he was some ability that has protected him throughout these years. But if that was the case, why would he invest so much time and energy to robots, Terra, and Robin to take his place? If he was so powerful, he wouldn't need someone to do his dirty work.

No, this signal was most likely something that automatically triggered if Slade was ever compromised. That left Raven wondering what other fail safes were in place. She would share her concerns with Cyborg tomorrow.

As she headed back to her room, she felt the uncontrollable urge to cry. It didn't make sense as Robin was hurt, but he was still with them. Everything that happened scared her more than anything. Seeing Robin alive made her feel relief.

A thought crossed her mind, causing her to halt in her footsteps.

A bond? In order to find Robin earlier, she had to enter his mind. She saw pieces of his past. It looked as though Robin and his family were part of a circus and then… falling. Robin's family _died_ from that fall, and he joined up with Batman afterwards.

She thought the pain she felt from him was from Slade's beating. Now that she thought about it, part of it must have been from the memory. Any tragic memory such as that would have such emotion behind it.

_I should check on him_, she thought as she turned down another hallway. Away from her own and toward Robin's.

She stood in front of his door, listening carefully for any sounds. There was movement and a door closing. It was safe to assume he'd still been up.

Gently, she knocked on his door.

A voice called out. "Star, I really appreciate but Cyborg was right—" Robin stopped midsentence as he saw her outside his door.

"Oh, Raven. I'm sorry I thought you were someone else." His masked eye still looked swollen and the noticed he was out of uniform and in his boxers.

She felt guilty for bothering him due to all the pain he is still probably in, but mostly she felt guilty because she was seeing her leader in such a… unprofessional way. Her cheeks turned red as she did her best to focus on his face.

She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry for bothering you, but I needed to talk to you. It's about… what I saw when our minds were connected."

He tensed. "Yeah, we should… probably do that." The door opened fully as Robin strode to his bed.

Nervously, Raven stepped through and followed him. She had been in his room before but it was never at this time of night and when Robin was obviously getting ready to go to bed for the night.

They sat next to each other in a long silence. Raven assumed he was waiting for her to speak so she began. "Robin, I saw your past. I saw your parents…" she wasn't able to finish her sentence.

"They're dead. Thanks to Two Face." His tone was blunt, neutral as if he has practiced this very conversation long beforehand.

He continued. "I'd appreciate it if you could not tell the others. It's not something they need to know. It happened a long time ago and I'm fine. After tonight, they don't need more reason to worry about me."

Raven's words stuck in her throat. Of course they would be worried. _She_ is worried. Robin kept this pain all to himself for all these years and never once spoke about it. Whenever the titans talked about their parents, Robin made some excuse to leave the room or changed the subject.

_Ah_. She didn't noticed that at the time, but Robin did actively avoid speaking about his parents. In fact, he spoke very little of his past at all. The titans knew he had worked with Batman, but that was about as far as it got. They never felt the need to ask him further.

Still, she had to honor his wishes. "I won't, but I do want to say that if you need me, I'm here if you want to talk. I don't want you to bottle this up, but I do understand. There are just some things you can't share with others. It's not that you don't trust them, it's just… some things are better left buried."

The image of her father's four red eyes crossed her mind. She shook her head to rid herself of its sight. Beast Boy and Cyborg could've asked her a dozen questions when they saw that "monster" a few years back. At the time, she explained that it was a representation of her anger. She left out the details.

If anyone understood Robin's need for privacy, it was her.

"I appreciate it, Raven. Out of all the titans, I think… if anyone was going to see that… I'd want it to be you."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

He pursed his lips. "I'm not sure. Maybe it's because I don't know a lot about you. You seem to have a lot of your own personal demons. I would never ask you to tell me. I know all too well what's that like." He turned to face her. "You seem like you might understand better than most, Raven and while I might never know your past, I know you won't use mine against me."

_If only you knew_, she thought bitterly. But, she was happy that he respected her privacy and trusted her. Maybe… if things were different, he would understand her "demons".

"There is one other thing I need to mention. Because I connected our minds, we share a bond now," she said.

"A bond? Like one of those… 'my mind to your mind' things?"

Raven resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He'd been watching too much TV with Cyborg. "In a way, yes I suppose. Our minds are connected, but there is a… physical element."

A raised mask eyebrow. She continued. "What I mean is, there will be times where we will _feel_ each other's emotions. If the emotions are powerful enough I mean. So an example would be earlier, I felt, for no reason, an urge to cry."

Robin frowned then looked at something on the floor. "I see. I'm sorry about that. That… connection we made brought back some painful memories."

"I know and I'm sorry because I never meant to invade you privacy. We didn't know where you were and I was scared something might have happened to you. It was the best way I could help," she explained. She _was_ scared—terrified—even if she didn't show it to the others. Keeping her mind clear was the only way she could focus enough to find him.

"Don't worry about it, Raven. I know I scared you guys with how I acted. I promise, I won't do it again."

She playfully punched his shoulder. He winced and rubbed his shoulder. "You better hope not. Next time I will just knock you about and make you dream of unicorns and rainbows.

His masked eyes widened. "You can do that?"

She smirked. "What do you think?"

They both chuckled. She was glad to finally see a real smile on his face. "I'll let you get some rest. If the pain gets to be too much, call me. My healing abilities aren't Godlike, but I can ease the pain and encourage a faster process."

As she strode to the doorway, Robin called out. "Hey, thanks for everything. You're a good friend."

_Only a friend_, she thought. _But… a good one at least._ She gave him a small smile. "Anytime, bird boy. Now get some sleep." She wasn't sure why she added the nickname other than to tease him further.

Robin chuckled again. "Goodnight, Raven."

And with that, Raven left his room no longer feeling the urge to cry. But instead, felt a surge of warmth and happiness.


End file.
